Patterson, the land office receiver at Junction City, May 1858 to April 1861, wrote with regard to problems within the Kansas Democratic Party. Recent differences between members over participation in the party's national convention at Charleston, S.C., had been aired in the press, and Patterson thought this unfortunate since "the future prosperity of our country depends upon the success of that party. Democrats should, he contended, not let relatively small policy issues overshadow the fundamental principles they share. Patterson pledged his support for the nominee of the convention, whomever it was, but favored "Judge Douglass [Stephen Douglas] . . .as we have been intimate personal, as well as political friends for several years."

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